By Roger Sohn, MD
Have you ever wondered what causes that persistent elbow pain? Surprisingly, it's often not inflammation but rather a lack of proper healing that leads to issues like tennis or golfer's elbow. Chronic tendon damage accumulates due to poor circulation and reinjury, causing discomfort to linger for months or even years.
Introducing orthobiologics-a field offering non-surgical options to kickstart your body's healing process. Using natural healing factors found in your bloodstream, like growth factors, orthobiologic treatments stimulate blood flow and recovery through your body's inflammatory pathways. Athletes like Payton Manning and Maria Sharapova have benefited from these therapies. If you have lingering elbow pain, consider consulting us for orthobiologic therapy-a personalized, natural solution harnessing your body's own healing power.
What is orthobiologic therapy?
Orthobiologic therapy is a cell based treatment that concentrates the platelets and their associated healing factors from your own blood. These healing factors are helpful in healing damaged tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and the linings of joints.
How does orthobiologic therapy work?
One of the most effective types of orthobiologic therapy involves the use of your own platelets, drawn from your blood and concentrated into an injectable form.
Platelets are small blood cells that play a crucial role in wound healing and tissue repair. When a tissue is injured, platelets are the first to arrive at the site of injury. They contain alpha granules which can release various growth factors, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), and other cytokines which promote healing and regeneration of the damaged tissue.
Platelets help to orchestrate an incredibly elegant and complicated series of steps some of which are pro-inflammatory, and others that are anti-inflammatory. It is these orderly steps that cause the body to heal damaged tissues like tendon and the lining of joints.
What does orthobiologic therapy involve?
The procedure involves drawing about 3-4 ounces of the patient's blood and processing it in a centrifuge machine to separate the platelets from other blood components. The concentrated platelets, which are now enriched with healing factors, are then injected into the damaged area of the tendon or ligament.
What are the benefits of orthobiologic therapy?
Orthobiologic therapy offers several benefits over traditional treatments for tendon injuries. It is a safe procedure because it uses the patient's own blood, eliminating the risk of an adverse reaction or infection. Additionally, these injections stimulate natural healing processes, leading to faster and more complete recovery. Other treatments like cortisone injections may give short term relief but long term, they may make the problem worse.
Orthobiologic therapy has been studied extensively and compared to various other treatments including cortisone injections and surgery. It has been shown in most studies to be both safe and effective.
Are orthobiologic therapy injections painful?
While they pale in comparison to surgical procedures, these regenerative injections do trigger a potent healing and inflammatory response. In the days following the injection, you might experience notable swelling and discomfort. To reduce the injection pain, we administer a local anesthetic to the area before the procedure.
Is orthobiologic therapy covered by insurance?
In general, insurance companies and Medicare do not pay for orthobiologic therapy. They are still considered experimental by most insurance companies. This may change in the future since recent meta-analysis studies show support for its safety and effectiveness.
How much does orthobiologic therapy cost?
Our packages, tailored to the number of body parts treated, falls within the range of $1500 to $1650. This includes:
- High concentration factor preparation. This is the core of our treatment. Without adequate concentration, results are less predictable. We also use a proprietary formula to maximize healing while decreasing the discomfort of the injection.
- Ultrasound guidance for the injection. This helps to ensure accurate placement of the healing factors into the damaged areas.
- A special needling technique that improves the healing factor penetration into damaged tissue
- High potency Vitamin C supplements
- Companion videos for the busy person. This includes 12 weeks of exercises that can be done at home in lieu of formal physical therapy.
- You may drive yourself to and from your appointment. If you wish, we can provide Lyft Health for transportation. This is included in your treatment cost.
- 12-week follow-up visit in person.
- Soft tissue scraper tool and essential oil for use with the companion videos. (While supplies last).
How should I prepare before my treatment?
- Stay well-hydrated before your session, as we'll draw over 100ml of blood for optimal cell and healing factor concentration.
- Avoid heavy or fatty foods 1-2 days prior to your treatment.
- Wait at least 4 weeks after a cortisone injection (if you have had any).
- Refrain from taking anti-inflammatory medications for 2-3 weeks leading up to the injection. Feel free to resume these medications 6 weeks after the procedure. Common examples are Aspirin, Motrin, and Aleve. Unsure about your medications? Don't hesitate to ask us.
- If desired, we can prescribe an oral sedative to ease discomfort. If you opt for this, arrange for someone to drive you. If not, you can drive yourself home afterward. Alternatively, we can arrange a ride through Lyft-Health if needed.
Do orthobiologic therapy injections have any associated risks?
When we inject a body part, there's a minimal chance of introducing skin bacteria that could result in infection. Rest assured, our stringent sterile techniques greatly minimize this risk, making such infections extremely rare.
Our self-contained preparation and centrifuge kits ensure no cross-contamination from other individuals' fluids. We've implemented safety measures, including having you confirm your name label on the syringe before injection. These precautions are designed to guarantee your protection against disease transmission.
Experiencing unaddressed and intense pain post-injection could lead to nerve irritation, also known as complex regional pain syndrome. We've established preventative measures, such as Vitamin C supplementation and instructions on nerve desensitization, to reduce this risk.
We are proud to offer our patients the best options for regaining their shoulder and arm strength. Find out if orthobiologic therapy can help heal your painful tendons or ligaments. To schedule a consultation, please call or contact Theresa J. Ho PA-C, Proudly serving the communities of San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, Mission Viejo, Irvine, San Clemente, and Fountain Valley CA.
